


Family Ties

by swanqueenfic13



Series: Little Luthor [7]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Built Family, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Mama!Kara, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mommy!Lena, Temper Tantrums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 16:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10597554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanqueenfic13/pseuds/swanqueenfic13
Summary: “Bye babe, love you. And I love you, munchkin,” Kara grins. Lena smiled into the kiss before taking Lydia’s hand to lead her out to the car.“Bye Mama Kara! Lobe you!” Lydia squeaks. Kara’s cheeks redden and Lena stumbles but they’re already out the door and Lena just glances back to raise an embarrassed and confused eyebrow. Kara smiles and Lena just bites her lip, giggling slightly and turning before Lydia can pull them into the street.Or: Lydia calls Kara Mama and the family dynamic is strengthened





	

“Mommy, Mommy! We watched a  _ movie _ today!” Lydia bounced as she came running out. Ever since they started dating, Kara started working sign-outs so she could see Lena at the end of the day. Lena had also started coming a little later so that Kara could leave and meet them somewhere. It had been ice cream dates until the weather got cold and now they typically go to get hot cocoa or read stories at the library if they don’t go back to Lena’s place. After that news story about Lena's business being vandalized, she had gone to the news stations and respectfully asked them to give her privacy. When they threatened to be difficult, Lena came armed with lawyers paid through her family money, which she had gotten hold of after her mother was caught trying to help Lex escape. Thankfully, they had finally listened and Lena had been able to keep Lydia well out of the spotlight. They had stayed at Kara's place for almost two weeks though, just to be sure that they would be left alone, not that Lena had minded, nor had Lydia- she thought it was a fun adventure. 

Lena just beamed at her daughter, fixing Lydia’s hat and taking her backpack to make sure Lydia’s gloves are both still there before replying.

“A  _ movie _ ? Which one?” Lena smiles and twists Lydia’s braids before pulling on her gloves and zipping up her jacket- they were really feeling the late-February chill now but Lydia had a penchant for forgetting to bundle up. 

“A- a- what was it Miss Kara? The ocean! Right?” Lydia was jumping from foot to foot while Lena straightened up and shouldered Lydia’s backpack.

“It was called  _ Dark Ocean Creatures _ . We’re learning about different animals and I thought that the bottom of the ocean has some pretty interesting animals, right Lyd? And I knew you loved the ocean after our little aquarium trip, right?” Kara smiles. 

“Yeah! Mommy, the dark ocean movie was so good! So many cool aminals like the sk- the skw- the-”

“Squid,” Kara provides. Lena steps to the side to allow another parent in.

“Yeah! The squid! And some of the aminals Mommy, they  _ glow _ . Isn’t tha cool?” 

“Oh, it’s  _ awesome _ , Lyd. Kara, I will see you tomorrow. Lydia and I are going to make our own pasta and meatballs tonight, right baby?” She took Lydia’s hand after kissing Kara goodbye. Lena wanted to keep up the one on one time with Lydia after their museum day but Kara suggested they occasionally keep things simple (like making dinner together).

“Yeah!” Kara follows them out to the door, kissing Lena again before bending down to kiss the top of Lydia’s head.

“Bye babe, love you. And I love you, munchkin,” Kara grins. Lena smiled into the kiss before taking Lydia’s hand to lead her out to the car. 

“Bye Mama Kara! Lobe you!” Lydia squeaks. Kara’s cheeks redden and Lena stumbles but they’re already out the door and Lena just glances back to raise an embarrassed and confused eyebrow. Kara smiles and Lena just bites her lip, giggling slightly and turning before Lydia can pull them into the street.

 

Lena waits until she’s unbuckling Lydia from the carseat and taking her into the apartment to bring it up.

“Hey, Lyd, remember what you said when we were leaving preschool today?” She asked, careful to keep her tone carefree and light. It had only been ten minutes but Lena knew her phone was buzzing with texts from Kara to talk about this latest development.

“About the glowing aminals?” Lydia grins, taking a breath as if about to launch into a diatribe on the creatures. Lena is quick to speak first.

“Those sound really cool, Lyd, and I want to hear  _ all _ about them in a little bit. But I mean when we were saying goodbye. Do you remember what you called Kara?” Lydia squirms a little bit in her seat now that she’s unbuckled and Lena picks her up, kneeling down to be at Lydia’s eye level. Her little girl just tugged at the sleeves on her jacket, digging her toe into the ground and swaying back and forth slightly.

“Did I do somethin’ wrong?” Her voice is so small, so fragile. Lena hugs her tight.

“No, baby girl, no. You didn’t do anything wrong, I just wanna talk to you about it,” Lena clarifies, pulling back to look Lydia in the eye. “I wanna know why you decided to call her Mama. And I wanna make sure you’re okay with that.”

“Yeah!” Lydia beams and bounces on her toes. “I was talking to Nathan and he said he has two dads so he calls one of them Pop and the other is Daddy. And Luisa has a mommy and she calls her mommy’s boyfriend dad. I just… I wanted to do it, too,” Lydia explains. “And I like Kara. She’s nice and she cuddles me and she plays games with me and we make dinner together and she gets ice cream with us and she makes you happy. I like when you’re happy, Mommy.”

“So you wanna call Kara Mama? And I’m Mommy?” Lena asks. Lydia nods, shyly biting her lower lip. Lena smiles and picks her up, balancing her on her hip and tugging the backpack over her shoulder as they walk inside. She kisses Lydia’s cheek before replying, “okay. I’m okay with that. We just want to ask Kara, right?” Lydia beams and Lydia nods.

Once they’re in the apartment and Lydia runs to go build a new racetrack (her friend Jimmy had given her an idea during free play today and she didn’t wanna forget it), Lena texted Kara with an update and a promise to call her once Lydia was asleep.

 

After a successful evening of homemade meatballs, pasta, and a whole mess of sauce (seriously, Lena didn’t understand how her daughter managed to get sauce not only in her hair but also between her toes) Lydia was finally bathed and asleep. Lena smiled, turned on the nightlight and closed the door before getting her phone out to call Kara. She answered on the third ring.

_ “Oh my God, hi! I totally hope you’re not mad! I didn’t tell her to call me that or anything and I want to make sure you’re comfortable before we do anything big like that because I heard you when you said you wanted to move slow and I know we’ve started doing sleepovers when you can get Lucy to do an overnight but I don’t want to move too fast for you and I just-” _

“Kara,” Lena interrupts with a chuckle. She doesn’t quite understand how Kara managed to say all of that in one breath. “Hello to you, too.”

_ “Hi,” _ Kara says softly. Lena smiles.

“Hi, babe,” she says again. “How was your night?”

_ “Good. Alex and Maggie and Jamie invited me over for dinner and then while Jamie went to go do her homework and stuff, I talked to Alex and Maggie and they tried to keep me from freaking out. But then I went home and I started thinking and I was so scared you’d be mad and- oh God, are you mad? We haven’t talked about it yet, so I just- please say something-” _

“Kara, I would if you gave me a minute,” Lena said gently.

_ “Shutting up now,” _ Kara said quickly. Lena smiled. She could practically see Kara miming zipping her lips shut and tossing away the key. God, Lena is in love with a dork.

“So I talked to Lydia after we got back. And I would never accuse you of telling her to call you Mama. Apparently she was talking to Nathan who has a Daddy and a Pop and some girl Luisa calls her mom’s boyfriend Dad. That’s where she got the idea. And she loves you and she cares about you so she wanted to do that. And I told her that as long as you were okay with it, so was I,” Lena explains gently.

_ “Really?” _ Kara squeaks.

“Yes, babe. Really. You have now officially been deemed ‘Mama’ and I am still Mommy” She can hear Kara giggling and jumping around. “We should do a day out to celebrate, hmm?”

_ “Totally!” _ Lena smiles and makes herself comfortable as they continue to chat well into the night before finally retiring for bed, happy and content and warm.

 

“Mommy, I wanna watch the dark ocean movie again,” Lydia whined, bouncing on her toes while they walked through the halls, waiting for Kara to meet them at home. For the past week and a half, Lydia had been begging to watch the movie again and again. At first, Lena had let her watch it a little bit at a time while she played but now, it was just getting ridiculous.

“No, baby, Mama had to return it to the library yesterday, remember?” Lena explains, glad that she had made Kara return it. 

“But Mommy! The dark ocean!” Lydia wails, kicking her feet. Lena can see the beginnings of a tantrum.

“Lydia,” she says in a warning tone.

“I wanna watch it! The sea creatures!” She’s stomping her feet and her voice is cracking and there’s tears forming in her eyes. Lena quickly opens the door and drops her things just inside the doorway before scooping Lydia up even as she kicks and hits Lena before closing the door behind her, hoping to protect her neighbor’s ears from Lydia’s screaming. Lydia’s words are unintelligible now as she wails and screams but Lena can pick out words like ‘dark ocean’ and ‘sea creatures’ and ‘squids’.

“Lydia, we do not need to scream about this. We do not have the dark ocean movie anymore. We cannot watch it right now,” she repeats calmly. Lydia yells something before throwing herself down on the floor, kicking and banging her fists on the ground. Sighing, Lena moves away the things that Lydia could hurt herself with on the floor before going back into the kitchen to grab her things from the floor. Lydia is still screaming when Kara knocks on the door. Cursing in her head, Lena goes to open the floor with an apologetic smile on her face.

“Everything alright?” Kara smiles easily. Lena nods, inviting her in. She seems to flinch a little at the noise but schools her face back into a neutral expression. 

“We’re just having a little temper tantrum because you returned the DVD yesterday and she can’t watch it today. For now, I'm trying to let her scream it out,” Lena explained. “I'm sorry, you don't have to stay if this is too much,” she adds, remembering some of Kara's past comments about sensory issues. 

“No, no!” Kara insisted. “I came over for dinner so I'm staying for dinner. How about I set the table and you can go put something comfortable on,” she suggests. Lena nods, kissing her quickly before hurrying off to change into her soft gray joggers and worn out old MIT sweatshirt. When she comes back, she finds Kara taking the baked mac and cheese out of the oven. Lydia was sitting up in the floor now, still sniffling and her breath hitches. Smiling, Lena goes to kneel down next to her. 

“Hey, Lydia. You feeling better now?”she speaks in soft tones and slowly reaches out to put her hand on Lydia's shoulder. Her daughter leaned into the touch and let out a shuddering sigh. Lena pulled Lydia into her lap and petted her daughter’s hair. 

“I-I'm so-sorry Mommy,” she gasps. 

“You're okay, baby girl. I know you're sorry, shhh,” Lena whispers, rocking Lydia back and forth. “But we have to use our words next time, right? And we don't have to scream or cry when things don't go our way. And we certainly shouldn't hurt other people when we're mad.”

“Yes Mommy, I know. I'm sorry,” Lydia nodded with a sniffle. Lena pressed a kiss into her temple. 

“Good girl. I think we're going to do an early bedtime tonight, though. And no TV.” Seeing Lydia starting to protest, Lena quirks an eyebrow. “Lydia do you think you earned TV time before bed with the way you were acting?” 

“No,” she replies sullenly. 

“Maybe we can watch TV tomorrow if we have a better day, hmm? Now, come on. Mama set the table all nice so we can go have our mac and cheese with hot dogs, right? Let’s go,” Lena whispers, picking Lydia up to get her situated in the booster seat; the tantrum seems to have tuckered the little girl out and she’s sucking her thumb while blinking sleepily, snuggled into Lena’s shoulder. Lena smiles softly seeing Kara cutting up Lydia’s hot dog into tiny pieces.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Kara smiles. “I’m glad you could join us for dinner.” She stands to kiss Lydia’s head and help Lena get her situated before pouring Lydia a glass of juice in her racecar sippy cup. Lena set about doling out the mac and cheese while Kara put music on in the background and put the hot dogs on their plates. It all felt very domestic. It felt like home. Lena just smiled and went with it.

 

Lydia perked up a bit once she had some food and drink in her but her eyes were still drooping when Lena began to clear the plates away.

“Lyd, you can play for thirty minutes before bath and bedtime,” Lena tells her daughter. Lydia shrugs and Kara passed her some more dirty dishes before she went to go put the leftovers in plastic.

“Mommy, I’m kinda sleepy. Can I play tomorrow?” she says with a yawn.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Lena smiles from the kitchen. “Could Mama Kara get you started while I finish cleaning up?” Kara blushes upon hearing the title spilling so easily from Lena’s mouth. “If that’s okay with you, dear?” she asks, softer. Kara nods.

“Yeah, I can- that’s good. I could also just do the dishes while you- I mean, I can do either. If- I mean, if Lydia is okay with that,” Kara stammers.

“Mama, can’t unbuckle,” Lydia grumbles, tugging at the single buckle on her booster seat. Kara smiles, is about to ask for the magic word when Lydia provides it. “P’ease?”

“Of course,” Kara smiles, unbuckling the little girl and helping her hop down to the ground. “But you didn’t answer Mommy. Is it okay if I get you started in your bath or do you want Mommy to do it?” In answer, Lydia just grabs Kara’s hand and tugs her toward the bathroom insistently.

Lydia squirms while Kara runs the warm bath water and fills it with soap, yawning and tugging on her braids. Kara tries to tickle her and chat with her but Lydia gives one word answers and squirms away, just trying to keep her eyes open. Within a few minutes, Lydia is settled into the bath and the warm water and lavender scented soaps aren’t making it any easier for the little girl to fight sleep. While Kara would normally give Lena a few minutes to play with the bath toys she sees in a basket behind the tub, Lydia looks far too tired to even keep her eyes open. Still, she gives the toddler the option, presenting the toys and letting them bob in the water.

“Do you want to play with the fishies?” Kara asks, gently floating one towards the toddler. Lydia grabs it and half-heartedly splashes it around before letting it go and looking back up at Kara. “Too tired?”

“Yeah, Mama,” Lydia nods.

“Are you feeling alright, sweetheart?” Kara asks as she begins to wet the washcloth and put soap on it. Lydia nods and Kara pauses, helping her wash in silence for a few minutes. After a bit, she asks, “just sleepy?” Another nod. She moves to rinse the soap from Lydia and reaches for the shampoo. “I think that tantrum earlier tuckered you out a bit, hmmm? And you didn’t nap the whole time this afternoon, either,” Kara notes. Almost immediately, Lydia’s eyes well up with tears and her lower lip quivers. Kara freezes.

“Whoa, Lyd, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Kara asks softly.

“I’m s-sorry,” Lydia whispers, nervously letting her thumb rest on her bottom lip, not quite in her mouth but definite enough to muddle her speech. “I’m s-sorry I was a b-bad girl and t-threw a tan-tum and didn’ nap and-and-and I’m  _ sorry _ . Don’ leave my mommy and don’ leave me.” She starts to cry now and Kara scoops the little girl up and out of the tub. She holds her against her chest, wrapping the towel around her when she shivers.

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s all this, Lyd? You’re okay, I’ve got you, I’m here,” Kara hushes her. “I’ve got you, I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere. Can you take a deep breath for me, baby? Big breaths, like we did in yoga the other day, remember?” She can feel Lydia trying to relax herself and Kara is  _ so _ grateful they’d rented that kid’s yoga video on that dreary day. Once Lydia’s crying has reduced to the odd sniffle, Kara sets her down on the closed toilet lid.

“I’m sorry,” Lydia mumbles, thumb securely in her mouth now. She won’t look at Kara.

“For what, sweetheart? You already apologized for the tantrum, remember? And Mommy and I forgave you. It’s okay, we all get upset sometimes. It doesn’t make you a bad girl,” Kara says emphatically. Lydia just whimpers sadly.

“You still love me?” she asks after a beat, finally looking up at Kara.

“To the moon and back, sweetheart. And forever and always. And no amount of tantrums or skipped naps or stolen cookies or fussy fits could change that, alright? No matter what, just remember I love you, alright?” She runs a hand through Lydia’s wet clumps of hair, resting her hand on her cheek.

“I love you, Mama,” she replies. Kara leans forward and hugs her again, waiting until Lydia pulls away.

“Now, how’s about we finish that bath so we can get you in your jammies, hmmm?” Kara smiles. Lydia nods, trying to stifle another yawn.

 

After her bath, Lydia insisted that both Kara and Lena put her to bed, reading one story each. They both obliged, since she had asked politely. Just before Kara finished reading a Finding Nemo book, Lydia’s eyes fell closed and her breathing evened out. They waited a minute before making their way out to the living room and settling on a couch.

“You know, she had a bit of a fit in the tub. I just… I mentioned her tantrum earlier- all I said was that it tired her out, I swear- and she started crying. She was worried I was going to leave, that I didn’t love her any more,” Kara recounts softly, picking at a loose thread on the couch that they’ve settled on.

“I know,” Lena says softly. Kara looks up.

“You know?”

“I know. I heard her crying while I was washing the dishes but when I came in, you seemed to have it under control. So I let you handle it,” Lena shrugs.

“You- you did? How long were you standing there?” Kara asks, dumbfounded. How did she not hear her girlfriend standing there? Though, Kara will admit that she was more focused on Lydia than on listening for her mother.

“Long enough. You did a very good job with her. Did you mean it? That’s you’d always love her?” Now it’s Lena who’s avoiding eye contact and picking at her sweatpants.

“I did,” Kara says gently. “I know we've barely been together for six months but… Lena I love you and I love Lydia. I love you both so much and I can't even imagine a world without you guys in it. You're… my family died when I was young. And I was alone. But then… then the Danvers adopted me. But they didn't have a big family, not like I used to have. It was just Eliza, Jeremiah, Alex and me. And I adjusted, I guess. I adjusted to a small family but then my family grew. To my friends: Winn and James and Lucy and Susan. Then to Maggie and Jamie. And now you and Lydia. And I don't… Lena, I… I consider you family. Remember what you said before we went to the aquarium? You called me family. And I consider you family, too. Have for a while now, actually. And for me, family is forever. Even if… even if -god forbid- our romantic relationship doesn't last forever, you will always be part of my family. So yeah, I will always love Lydia and I will always love you because I will always love my family.” Once she's finished speaking, Kara drops her hands into her lap, squeezing her fists in an attempt to calm herself. Lena startled her by grabbing her fists, gently unclenching them and intertwining their fingers. 

“You're my family, too,” she says, her voice thick with barely held back tears. Lena clears her throat and continues, “I haven't had a big family. Or a loving one. And I didn't have the same friend group family dynamic that you do. I've always… it's been just me and Lydia for a while and before that… it was basically just me. But… Kara you've become my family too. You've been so helpful even with everything that happened with them and the news people hounding me for a bit… but you've been good. You've been my rock, my family. And I think… I think I'd like to count your friends and family as mine, too. If that's alright.” Lena's voice shakes and a tear slips down her cheek. Kara kisses it to wipe it away before smiling. 

“I think they would love to have you as part of their family too,” she says softly, letting out a watery chuckle. Sniffling, she pulls Lena to her chest and holds her, shifting until they're lying on the couch and Lena is nestled on top of her. They lay like that on the couch, eventually turning the tv on as they sit, content to just sit together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Leave me your comments! Did you like it? Are we ready for a little bit of angst in the next chapter? How's your day going? I thrive on the validation of comments and kudos, so help a girl out!


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